Batteries Draining Arlo Camera

[Shammy]

Why does my camera night infrared come on when I have the camera set to off?

[pc2k17]

@pohleonguk

There is only base trial firmware, not cameras. Version is 1.10.0.9_24726

[NetBox]

Thanks for the info. That explains it then.

I was wondering how you had managed it and may be had a hack or something.

If rolling back to older firmware didn't fix things that presumably means they changed something with the back end with their system/servers etc which must be causing/has introduced the issue

I suspect it is something to do with the base station (and Pro cameras connected to it) connecting or not connecting, then the base seems to lock up, going offline which it seems to do sometimes. All can appear well then you notice the cameras/base is offline, then when all is returned you've had a battery drop by a few percent. I've noticed this the odd time recently and for me certainly the battery drops do usually seem to happen overnight, so is maybe linked to the night vision bug?

[Davhd]

Mine worked before the firmware updates.  I charged all batteries Aug 14th, today my one with about 5-6 in total 10 second recordings is at 44%.  With colder weather on the way I expect the 6-7 weeks I’m currently getting will drop even lower.  Nothing changed on my end, I appreciate everyone trying to fix this but it is on Arlo.  Out of all my smart home equipment, this is the only one failing.  Hope they fix it soon.

[secaz]

Davhd - if you are not already doing so, charge your batteries in an Arlo charging station.  At least the batteries will charge to 100% instead of the 80% you will get when merely plugging the camera into a charger to charge the battery in the camera itself.  This helped the most for me and my 10 cams.  I have 4 extra batteries and two charging stations...

[Davhd]

Secaz,

Thank you.  I had read this in previous threads, sounds like an option to help minimize issue until resolved.  Are you using Arlo brand charger?

[secaz]

Davhd - yes, I am using the official Arlo chargers... but they are built cheaply and are flimsy... you might want to look at after-market chargers, maybe.  My first Arlo charger broke after 3 months... the 2 I have now seem to be ok, but one gets a bit crabby at times.

I'm wishing I had bought after-market chargers... there are several out there... the only reason I didn't was I didn't want any flack from Netgear when trying to get support, if they asked if I was using their charging station or some off-brand... but their support is useless, so now wish I had different chargers... I never contact support since it's a waste of time...

Another thing you might want to do to save battery life is turn off the speaker and microphone if you have no need for them.  I never use the speakers in my cams, and I was using the microphone to get audio track, but the audio quality since the fated May firmware update has been AWFUL - its choppy and unintelligible.  So I turned that off, too...  have lost so much quality and functionality since I bought the system over a year and a half ago.  Netgear has really mess up what was once a good system...

[Davhd]

Secaz,

Thanks for the time and help.  I was planning on getting a charger and now I will.  Hopefully this all gets straightened out for folks with issues, when working as advertised this system is good.  It is not perfect but I definitely find it a useful.

[Greg0101]

So guys, once again I charged the batteries over past two nights.  Guess what

"This Arlo device is Offline"

I synced the cameras to the base station, and on the base station, the  had the last green light on, meaning cameras are connected.   Well all the  cameras are Offline.

This becoming a joke that once again after 2-3 months, we have to deal with these issue, where the system is NOT  working as advertised. I have PMed JamesC, have jumped on the beta trial...where to now?

[secaz]

The functionality of my system is a fraction of what it used to be - and I've had to skinny down record time and quality and other functions just to keep battery life *near* what I used to get when I first bought the system.

My custom schedules blow up regularly.  Earlier this week, Arlo decided to disarm my system - in the schedules, the time slot I have assigned for early morning mode, it disappeared - that time slot had the mode active for only ONE day, and all the other days were disarmed.  I have been having this problem on and off, and seeminly after Arlo has issues, like they did ths past weekend.  And I have three base stations, and all three had the same issue... so not likely that all three basestations had the same issue at the same time.

And I have issues right now with some videos not playing - get a smattering of them during the day like that.  The affected videos are missing the audio track, or rather have an unsupported audio codec.  Can't play these videos from withing Arlo Library using Android app or Arlo website using Google Chrome (on Linux).  However, can copy the share link for video and paste into Firefox (both Android and Linux) and the video will play, but there's no audio track.  I downloaded a bad video to my Samsung S9+ phone and tried to open it with VLC, would not open, tried FX player which played video with no audio, and the stock Samsung player played the video with no audio, BUT I did get a warning that it could not play the audio track due to an unsupported audio codec.

My best guess is some browers/apps will not play the vuideo at all if they don't support the audio codec, while some will go ahead and play the portion of the file it can decode, which is the video track, and just disregard the audio track it can't decode.

Point being, there is ALWAYS something wrong with Arlo... ALWAYS...

BTW - I turned off my micro phones so there is no audio recording, but it issue persists...

[Tomt1]

I agree. There’s always something wrong. I’m disappointed with this system. I bought 3 Cameras and base in Dec 2017 and was lulled into satisfaction until May. Since then, multiple issues ranging from battery life to geofencing to false motion detection to weird scheduling issues to whole system outages. Oh yeah, and can’t change alert tone on iPhone. It’s a stupidly subtle little tone. That they won’t fix. Why did I ever think an internet based wireless system could even remotely compete with a wired system that didn’t depend on internet.? I haven’t been able to sell mine. Looks like no one wants them unless I totally dump the price.

[secaz]

Tomt1 - I know how you feel.  I went with Arlo because being wireless it was very attractive, and worked very well for my situation.  Easy to install, and if I didn't like where I mounted a cam, easy to move - no wiring to contend with.

The list of what isn't wrong with Arlo Pro is way shorter than the list of what IS wrong.

I hate the Android app - so much so I went back to using a version from May.  At least with that I can rename the rules in their modes.  I rename my cameras a lot since I regularly switch them out - so a cam might find itself in the backyard one week, and then out by the garage the next... and when I rename the cam, it does NOT rename the RULE in the mode on Android.  If a cam was named PATIO and then I moved it and changed name to GARAGE, if I view the modes/rules using Arlo website, all is good, but if I go to the rule in Android app for any app version after May, then the rule name and cam don't match, and there's no way to edit that in the Android app since they took away the ability to rename rules – and you can't even change the cam associated with the rule.  That's a deal breaker. I adjust the cam rules a lot for sensitivity do to wind here and my having lots of trees... and I have 10 cams with 3 base stations... so not inclined to go hunt and peck through all the rules in Android app to find the cam I am looking for because the rule name doesn’t match the cam name. And althought the modes/rules/cams all match up when viewed in a web browser, I don’t want to run to my desktop computer every time I need to change a rule setting. So I rolled back to old Android app version, that way I can at least the rules in the modes in the old Android app version to reflect the new camera names. Helps me retain my sanity.

Arlo has become not a very much ineffective security system, but it has also become a royal pain to maintain… and very often doesn’t work when I need it to the most.

[ProfZebu]

One of my camera switched off also by today. The battery was around 80%, and it was offline in the morning...

WTF??? I am experiencing it since August.

Camera FW is 1.092.0.16_21159.

[secaz]

I had turned the microphones off on ALL my cams, and came to find out mics were NOT off on SOME of them, even though it was indicated that they were OFF. I had even rebooted base stations, so if you want something to not work, it will just keep on working, and it you want something to work it won't.

I had to toggle the mic back on for one cam, then turn the cam off and turn it back on and THEN toggle the mic off - AND then reboot base station for it to get the hint I didn't want the mic on any more.  That was hardware version H11, that cam - I seem to have more problems with this hardware version than the H8 cams.

[paddos]

Any update from users trying trial firmware meant to fix ongoing battery drain issue?

Been a couple of weeks so should have a good sense if back to advertised levels.

[Stunew78]

I’m on the field trial firmware.

It has restored battery life to previous ‘as advertised’ performance.

Let us hope this ends this saga. Arlo have a lot of work to do after they fix this particular issue in terms of fixing how they deal with these issues,

I’m hopeful this will be the end of this mess,

[paddos]

@Stunew78

Thanks for feedback and good news on solution to battery drain.

Ditto on the need to rebuilt their equity with us.

[Davhd]

Stunew78,

Thanks for the update.  How long have you been on the field trial?  

[NetBox]

If this firmware does fix the battery drain issue Arlo need to make sure they never do this again.

They need to test THOROUGHLY any new potential firmware updates, before they even consider pushing them out to users (aka us paying customers who put their trust in Arlo). This can not happen again !!

Preferably allow the user the option to disable automatic firmware updates on their own cameras, after all they are our cameras, we paid for them so should have the option to update or not.

[DeiterB]

The test firmware has resolved my battery drain issue as well. Now we need to address the geofencing issue.

[DW15]

where to get the trial firmware?

[pc2k17]

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@DW15 wrote:

where to get the trial firmware?

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You have to join the Arlo Beta program and be accepted. Then you can test new firmware and such. I was sent an email from Arlo asking to join. There used to be a link on the main forum page, but I don't see it anymore, so not sure if they are still accepting people or not. Sorry couldn't be more help, but I'm not sure how you'd join the beta program at this point.

[NetBox]

@DW15

If you send @JamesC a PM saying you wish to take part he will send you a link so you can register and join.

It is a secretive society 😯 so you are not permitted to post anything about the trials in the public forums, so you have to bear that in mind.

But if you PM @JamesC he should be able to sort you out 👍

[paddos]

@JamesC

Getting good feedback on trial firmware relative to fixing battery drainage issue.

Not home enough to beta test but wore out climbing ladders on weekends to charge batteries.

And sense when engineering is going to push the new firmware?

Appreciate any update.

[Yorkie611]

Good afternoon, like so many other people on here my 2 cameras are both draining rapidly. The system is just coming up to. A year old and most of the time the system I said disarmed but cameras on. I am charging at least every month so way below what I was expecting and they aren’t in heavy traffic areas. I see there is a solution being worked on but when will it be released and what is causing it.

[Stunew78]

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@NetBox wrote:
@DW15

If you send @JamesC a PM saying you wish to take part he will send you a link so you can register and join.

It is a secretive society 😯 so you are not permitted to post anything about the trials in the public forums, so you have to bear that in mind.

But if you PM @JamesC he should be able to sort you out 👍

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Yeah, not buying the ‘secret society’ gag order...

I’m on the trial and if I can give anybody experiencing these problems a sense of hope... I will.

Kick me off and see if I care.

For those wondering, the fix is looking very, very good.